Grim Fandango

Put simply, this is one of those games you have to play before you die.

Lucasfilm Games/LucasArts is one of those studios that has a well-deserved and rabid cult following even years after it has ceased to support its classic titles, and Grim Fandango is perhaps their greatest achievement. It's Monkey Island with heart, Full Throttle with depth.

Although Grim Fandango has its share of one-off gags and one-liners, its humor is more situational and cumulative than typical humor titles, which gives the entire storyline a kind of cohesiveness that is supposed to happen only in the movies. Seeing characters at the end of the game and finding out what they've gotten up to in the two years since you last ran into them is unexpected and satisfying. Each Act takes place in a new location, but maintains threads of connection with previous Acts that entirely avoids the Where Am I Now, What Am I Supposed To Be Doing And Why Do I Care? syndrome that so often afflicts adventure games, particularly more recent ones.

Although graphics junkies will find that the 3D modeling leaves something to be desired, the artistry that went into the creation of each character (and there are many, many characters) will thrill adventure fans. The voice acting is superb, and the puzzles are, for the most part, refreshingly intuitive and sensible.

The Latin American film noir setting is entirely original, a selling point which cannot be understated. It's absolutely nothing you've ever seen before and nothing you're likely to see again, and for most PC gamers it's a cross-cultural experience that is unique in the realm of PC gaming. You'll learn, you'll feel, you'll laugh, you'll hope, you'll cheer.

Without a doubt one of the best PC games ever released.

This game is simply awe-inspiring. It uses its consistently excellent plot to hold you, while it presents fiendishly difficult puzzles for you to solve. The game felt immensely satisfying both intellectually and aesthetically.

The story follows Manny Calavera in his four year journey of the soul through the land of the dead, as he searches for a woman he believes that he cheated. There are classic themes of corruption, redemption, love, betrayal, karma, and others. The story has a profound sadness to it, lamenting for time, love, and opportunities stolen by injustice and greed. At the same time, the game never loses its sense of hope, and never loses its razor-sharp wit. In short, this plot is as good as many of the movies out there.

As for the puzzles, they are extremely challenging. If you have played Lucas Arts adventure games before, you would know the formula. Basically, it consists of this:

1) You cannot possibly lose the game

2) There is no general time limit, or indeed, general progression of time at all

3) You are given a general, limited area in which to find items and to solve puzzles necessary to advance the game

This particular game seems to require you to find comparatively few items (compared to the other Lucas Arts games I've played), and relies more on the clever use of your surroundings in order to solve a puzzle. Most of the time, I found I had all the tools I needed to solve the puzzle on hand, which was very useful. The puzzles are still difficult enough to keep you entertained for hours.

The only flaw I found was the control system, which was clunky and irritating at first, but the environments become easier to navigate and I stopped noticing. Despite the obvious flaw, I found it hard to justify deducting a star from the overall rating. The game was really that good.

Grim Fandango is most definitely the best title of its Genre EVER! You play the part of Manny Calavera a travel agent of death selling nothing but poor travel packages for the long journey to the 9th underground to his recently passed away clients, but Manny senses crime and corruption in the department of death when he find that his associate Domino gets all the good clients and Manny is stuck with all the poor clients. In my honest opinion Grim Fandango is the best title of its genre. Of course there are downsides like the long loading times between scenes and controlling Manny can be difficult at times but it doesn't get in the way of it's great storyline.

Another fine game of Lucas Arts. They keep amazing me with the game they develop. If you're familiar with the lucas arts type off games then you'll know what I mean. If you're don't familiar with the lucas arts games, try one.

This time it's about corruption in the land of the dead. You're the character Manny. He is a salesman trying to sell good trips to the dead people so they can travel to the next life or something. He finds out that the good people all have to walk to the dangerous land of the dead he knows that there must be a plot. First Manny is a salesman then his adventure goes further in the woods with his henchmen Glottis (he is very funny guy, if you like happily ever after (the bunny) then you'll like this fellow to). Then he's is a club owner with Glottis in the city and much more. As you can read there is a great variety in the game that causes no boring moments.

The game is directed just like a movie. The humour is very very professional en great. You'll only need about 2mb video ram but the graphics are all they need to be. The sounds are also very clear en full with detail.

When I played the game I wasn't bored for one moment. The cutscene, ingame infrastructure en the conversations are one of the best I ever experienced.

If you like adventuregames, great plots en bones and stuff ... try this game.

On of the finest adventuregame I ever played.

Grim Fandango is one of the best games in its genre. Its almost a movie in its rich storyline and character development. You know who the heroes are and you certainly know who the villains are but somehow you are left guessing until the very end because you are in a different world then our own and nothing is quite the same. I'd say that this would make a great movie, as long as its not bogged down with trying to be aimed at kids because its not.